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King Charles III, Prime Minister Liz Truss on September 9: Audience in a "polite" atmosphere
Photo: IMAGO/Pool / i-Images / IMAGO/i Images
The British King Charles III.
Contrary to his previous plans, he will not be traveling to the world climate summit in Egypt in November.
Buckingham Palace confirmed this to Sky News.
The Sunday Times previously reported that the new prime minister, Liz Truss, had told the king it would be better if he stayed away from the climate summit.
This is a new experience for the British sovereign.
Since the 1970s, Charles has presented himself as a pioneer of environmentally conscious thinking and an outspoken advocate of climate-friendly politics.
The same cannot be said of the Liz Truss administration.
She wants to return to climate-damaging fracking in Great Britain, develop new gas fields and has made the arch-conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg energy minister, who has expressed skepticism about climate change in the past.
According to the Sunday Times, Truss made her point of view clear to the king during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in September.
Nevertheless, a spokesman for the prime minister said the meeting was "polite" and there was "no argument" about the issue.
The Sunday Times reported that the palace and government had jointly decided that there were "more suitable options for the new king's first state visit".
British monarchs: representative state performers only
The palace, meanwhile, said the decision was made in the spirit that Charles, as British head of state, was consistently keen to act "on the advice of the government".
This is a euphemistic paraphrase for an open secret: the royal family has generally not interfered in the politics of the United Kingdom so far.
Charles's mother, the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II, is not known to have made any statements about the decisions of the respective rulers.
So far, monarchs have been expected not to pursue a political agenda that deviates from the line of the respective government.
As a representative of a government that takes a rather climate-skeptical position, Charles would probably find it difficult in the future to defend the positions that he has been propagating for decades.
Despite the diplomatic tones from the Palace and Downing Street, there are already indications that Charles may not accept this without resistance.
Being king means more political restraint
An unnamed source close to the king told The Times that Charles was "personally disappointed" as he had already scheduled various meetings and a speech as part of the summit.
However, he will still find ways to be present at the most important international meeting of climate policy.
The fact that Charles' displeasure with the process was even leaked is seen as the first sign of a new, less restrained approach by the royal family.
In the past, as heir to the throne, Charles was notorious for being unusually clear about his concerns.
In his first speech as king, however, he admitted that from now on he would no longer be able to pursue some of his heartfelt concerns in the same way.
Which does not necessarily mean that he will let it go completely: Queen Elizabeth II also gave a video address to the heads of government gathered in Glasgow for the climate summit last year.
Charles was there in person at the time and made an urgent appeal to the world to do more to combat the impending climate catastrophe.
pat/dpa